Graveyard Shift Slumber Party: Neon Slime
Circle Cinema
Tulsa
July 6, 2024
“Furiosa Edges Garfield in Worst Memorial Day Weekend Since 1995.”
Whenever I’m doompilled over World War 3, the impending takeover of AI, or our inevitable fascist theocracy, I remember this viral headline and get a giggly dopamine hit. It’s ridiculous, it’s funny, and — unfortunately — it’s true.
Movie theaters are also doompilled.
Many factors contributed to Furiosa’s lackluster box office performance, running the spectrum from “poor marketing” and “waiting for streaming,” to “incel rage.” But the truth of the matter is people aren’t hitting the cinema like the old days. In a 2023 report, the Washington Times noted that 25 to 30 percent of moviegoers haven’t returned to theaters since the shutdowns in response to Covid.
But the beating heart of cinema culture is thriving like it always has. And that heart is underground genre fandom. When celebrated filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez released their Furiosa-sized flop, Grindhouse, in 2007, the pair won Best Director at Spike TV’s Scream awards. Alluding to the support of horror hounds in spite of Hollywood disappointment, Rodriguez quipped that “these kinds of awards” would be the only kind he and Tarantino could expect in their immediate future.
Enter Tulsa’s own “Grindhouse”: Circle Cinema.
Circle Cinema is our historic “art house” theater. It’s the place where you can catch foreign films, indie underdogs, and your A24 style “elevated horrors.” Thanks to organizer David Nofire and his Graveyard Shift crew, you can also catch underground horror classics, unearthed action movies, and all manner of obscure splat, squick, and slime.
And slime was the theme of Graveyard Shift’s recent Slumber Party event. Neon Slime, to be exact.
The Slumber Party is one of Graveyard Shift’s most beloved and unique events, evidenced by the attendance at this year’s 13th installment. The theater was packed with gore hounds and film freaks in pajamas with blankets and pillows in tow. The Slumber Party name isn’t a red herring: films are shown from 9pm until sunrise, with a Dawn of the Donuts breakfast provided to the survivors.
“The first Slumber Party was July 18, 2009,” David Nofire told me. “The idea for a slumber party was one that Joshua Peck (Circle Cinema’s original Midnight Movie programmer) was kicking around for a while. We used to get together at his house to watch double features of ‘70s movies and order pizza from Pie Hole…. What I did was help give the event shape in terms of its pace. We really didn’t know what to expect on the night of the [first] event or if anyone would even attend. Circle ended up selling out the event and adding extra chairs in the auditorium.”
And a Tulsa institution was born.
That institution isn’t one just because it’s Up All Night. Slumber Party is a place to watch extremely rare movies (some with local connections) on the big screen, in very authentic formats.
Six years ago, following a Slumber Party screening of Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (a 2018 installment in the legacy Puppet Master franchise), frequent Graveyard Shift collaborator Jeremie White (who also plays with Sun Vow, also reviewed this week) moderated a post-screening Q&A with multiple regional artists — make-up effects badass Tate Steinsiek, actor David Burkhart, writer Preston Fassel (all from Oklahoma) and Texas actor Skeeta Jenkins — who worked on the film.
The horror/comedy ended up gaining national attention. “The fact that Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich was live streamed via Fangoria’s website and socials was a huge life goal achievement in my book,” White told me.
Other Slumber Party highlights through the years include a screening of the then-unknown Japanese psychedelic horror Haus, and Miami Connection, a film once thought to be lost.
This year’s Neon Slime theme harkened back to Circle Cinema’s modest days as a porno theater in the late ‘70s. All five films explored the dark side of Hollywood’s glitzy promise, where slashers mingled with vice cops, prostitution, and good old smut. The lineup’s first film, the Tulsa premiere of Ti West’s Maxxxine, saw Mia Goth’s titular character seek escape velocity from adult film work into the world of “acting,” all while the Night Stalker and something possibly worse lurked beneath the Hollywood sign.
1983’s Angel played next, with 10 to Midnight (1983) and Vice Squad (1982) following on 35mm film and Savage Streets (1984) closing out the night. Film restoration company Vinegar Syndrome restored Angel to 4k from its 35mm interpositive, and had a pop-up shop of physical media set up in the lobby the entire night. Vinegar Syndrome’s Theresa Mercado was on hand for a Q&A, and pointed out that many larger cities don’t have the ability to show 35mm film.
“We’re very lucky as cinephiles to have that in Tulsa,” said local cinephile and Slumber Party survivor Jacob Ide. “Showing 10 to Midnight and Vice Squad in 35mm added a kind of mystique and richly color-saturated luridness that added to the Neon Slime aesthetic. Knowing it was film, I didn’t feel like I was at Circle. I felt like I was in some long-gone grindhouse at 3:30 in the morning.”
“Neon Slime was special because everything fell into place and because we had great audience engagement,” Nofire said. “We used a new movie to showcase films I’ve wanted to play for years but that didn’t fit with out traditional programming.” He reported that this year’s Slumber Party had the highest percentage yet of people who stayed until sunrise.
In addition to donuts, survivors were gifted Neon Slime magnets for lasting the night. As genre fans show up in droves to support cinema, underground presenters like Graveyard Shift are happy to reciprocate.
Next at Circle Cinema: Circle Cinema Film Festival, July 12 – 15
